I'd like to throw in a cent or two. My feelings were exactly those of the OP's, but the reason was false expectations from the demo and website.

I interpreted the "four more planetary systems" as four more episodes. My bad, I know, but the demo episode has an ending that corresponds with the title of the episode, so it felt like just an introduction to the game - and the rest of the story. The episode selection button confused me further, since I expected to use it after purchasing the game.

So I was disappointed when I only got the demo episode with a few more endings. Partly because it was over sooner than I thought it would be, but mostly because the story was still unfinished. It's a nice idea to let the community continue the story (if that is what will indeed happen) but the best ending almost feels like a cliffhanger.

(The above paragraph contains somewhat spoiler-ish information on the game's ending, which I found unsatisfactory.)

In the end, I don't know what this discussion/rant will achieve. I just felt a sudden need to vent. I enjoyed the game a lot, and it felt good to finally be able to support the developer economically. 10 euros is not an unfair price, but the demo made me expect more.

Actually, I have this big idea about multiple timelines and dimensions that affect the world all my games take place in. Each game tells a small portion of this, and the idea is that when I've created enough games you can sort of piece the stories together to see everything in a bigger perspective. By this reason, I might not conclude a story in a way that solves all the presented problems, and I might not even create a successor that continues where the previous story left off. The type of thing I'd more likely do would be to use a character from one game as a NPC in another game, and make some dialogue about that hint about what happened after or before. Right now I'm actually more interested in creating a game about Saira's sister who crashed that car, than creating a story about if Saira and Bobo got home. Unfortunately for those who don't like not knowing what happened after, this is just how I want to develop my games.

In other words, I won't really "fix" the cliffhanger type of things going on, but I realize I'll have to be better at explaing what people get when they purchase something.

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although it seems that the actual discussion/controversy or whatever is not really actual anymore, I'd like to link up an article that concerns this topic at least peripherically: More in the Bottle - The dubious value of game length (on ArsTechnica)yaaay

Hi, just posting to say Saira was the best $10 I spent in years. It was amazing. The puzzles were smart, the storyline was enchanting and the graphics were perfect. It's a wonderful creation, and an important piece of art for all humanity.

I'm not surprised to see people complain they didn't get the worth of their $10 because the game was too short. Some people just don't understand. I feel sorry for them.

I like to think the game is well worth the $10, but if some people thought they would get more content than they did, I'm still the one who must take the blame for not being clear enough with the information. I do not want to give people false expectations, and when it happens it's never intentional. I've updated the website to actually state which solar systems that are unlocked to avoid confusion.

Forgive me for being so short-sighted. I honestly can't see any justification for complaints like these when you consider NOT having to pay for any of Nifflas' previous high quality games, let alone the hours of crisply produced electronic music given away via the niffpage.

@NifflasReading what you said in reply to my post is helpful to understanding your decision.I still think you were a bit generous.. But:A: that isnt really a bad thing B: You are probably right about marketing..

I think of it differently, your games are the only 'indie' games I follow, so a nifflas game seems to me like everyone would know about it.I dont think about how relatively small the community is.. So, now that I consider that, you're right

Actually, I wish it was longer too Perhaps in the future if I can afford to have a bigger team, we'll be able to do that!

If this wasn't playful sarcasm, I can give 100% of my effort to try I have mmf2, but no work.. I can't build physics but I can help with spriting, level design and script/storyboardAssuming you were serious, of course

Edit:I want to be clear that I wasn't saying the game itself isn't worth 10 $, I'd honestly pay a lot more if I had to..The presentation seemed like it went like this..

hype building through spoilers and speculationhype building with a release datehype building as you download the demohype slows when demo is finished

The rest of the game was nothing short of fantastic, but you arent paying for the game.. you're paying for the endings.Psycologically, at least.

If this wasn't playful sarcasm, I can give 100% of my effort to tryI have mmf2, but no work.. I can't build physics but I can help with spriting, level design and script/storyboardAssuming you were serious, of course

No sarcasm was intended. I want to work in a bigger team and work full-time on developing games together, probably around 4-5 people would be ideal. Thing is, it's a lot of work to create even a small game, so I wouldn't want anyone aboard before I can actually compensate the people accordingly. I offered Saira's ship radio channels as advertising for the musicians who was part of it (which is why they often mention who they are, what the songs are called, and where you can get their music). That way, I didn't pay them for having the music in the game, but when it comes to actual material for the game, like graphics and ingame music, I feel obligated to pay, which also gets a bit tricky as it involves contracts, money transactions and lots of legal details.

We'll see what happens in the future though. There was absolutely no sarcasm though. It'll just take some time to sort it all out.

So it's been a while.I've been really excited for a while about knytt underground, and the release made me remember about the only time I ever signed on to a forum for the sole reason of complaining.Needless to say I changed somewhat over those years. I'm nearly 20 now and even though i'm still an awkward teenager inside i've gained a different perspective about some things.I remember Saira very very fondly. From time to time this game pops up in my memory and what comes to mind is the great fun I had with it, the brilliant atmosphere, and especially the varied planets of different colors and the incredible attention to detail. I remember finding a statue on a dark planet which had mystified me then and still dose today.I think I never replayed Saira since the day i first posted this topic, so I guess I never got my so called "Replay Value", a term I now days treat with caution, but nevertheless the experience walks with me.I suspect at the time I was partly ashamed of my compulsion towards video games and "wasting" money on video games used to make me feel guilty. That compulsion turned slowly over the years into affection and enthusiasm, and I now have a different way, a different tool set, to measure the "worth" of a game.Saira is still to this day one of the best platformers I ever played and has a special place in my heart for many reasons, and I think that's worth AT LEAST 10$. Probably more.

P.S.The only PlayStation In my house is a PS2 that my friend lent me so I really really hope Knytt Underground is really coming to PC because i'd hate to miss out on that =(

This game kept me entertained during downtime on my vacation when it first came out. I played it about a planet at a time over a week. The only thing that has disappointed me is the complete lack of any fan-made addons! I suppose it is because no one has MMF2 to design new puzzle modules with...